Weel 70 - October 13 and the cupcake

Dear Family!!

 

Can you believe that tomorrow I will have been out 16 months? I surely cannot. This work is amazing and the time that I have been here feels like a dream. Everyday goes by so fast. I cant even begin to tell you how many miracles we were able to be a part of this past week. My heart is so full of thanks to my God that I cannot put into words how excited I am for the events that have transpired this past week. Also I cannot express how grateful I am for the things that will be coming in weeks soon to follow. Let me explain...

 

Last week I mentioned Cody? ( I believe that is what I called him? The man that did not believe we celebrated birthdays?)...Well! We stopped by his house on Thursday night..His dog has been really sick and was about to pass away. So they wanted to spend as much time with him as they could before he passed. As a result we weren't able to sit down with them and have a "formal lesson" if you will. We were able to be there for them..took the puppy a get well card. They appreciate that. During this visit we were able to discuss How all good things come from God. Cody's son has been struggling with adding additional scripture to the bible. Since a young age this is all he's known. ( he is 15) So his questions and concerns were centered on who is to be accountable if he were to read and study these things and it took him further from Christ and God? Also he didn't want to go against everything he had been taught. I can completely understand this..after living with one law and one understanding your whole life and having someone come and tell you something different..I would be a little confused myself and question..( I believe I already told yall this also..)..I was worried we were a little to blunt with him in helping him understand these things.  Also during this visit we asked Cody if he 'hopes the book of Mormon is true, Believes it is true or Knows it is true." He said He believed it was true!.. Sister Johnson and I were so excited..both of us beaming! I cant express the feelings to you of how exciting it is when someone (who you've been meeting with for a long time) tells you that they believe the same things you do. What a great feeling.. and if you think that's great..

The next time we met with Cody was after he had informed us that his dog had passed away. So we stopped by to see how they were doing. A little sad of course. They are going to let me play the violin at the puppy's funeral. His mom might come down too ( Cody's Mom.. Side note: He has been sharing the book of mormon with his family. They didn't like it at first..but now they are open to learning more because they know that Cody and his son would not look into anything that would hurt there relationship with God.) During this visit we committed them to come to church again..which they said they were going too..also we told Cody that we had prayed about his date for baptism and felt good about it..but it would be a good idea if he did the same thing.. SO in our closing prayer with him Cody prayed that he would be able to make it to his baptism date and to confirm if that was the date that he wanted him to be baptized on. So great!...

Sunday.. We were supposed to have so many investigators come (because I was playing the violin in church) but The only people that came that we invited were two less actives and Cody and his son..( pretty good if you ask me!) His son came to church...and He LOVED IT! He went right with all the youth his age to class and he stayed in priesthood with his dad..he loved every minute of it..when we asked him what he thought he said he liked it a lot better then his other church. He wants to be involved in scouts and seminary. After the block of meetings this week we had a "linger longer" ( every fourth Sunday we linger a little longer and eat a potluck lunch.) We told his son how we know he was looking for more leadership opportunities at his other church..and once he gets more involved here he'll see there are so many available for him..then his dad ( not yet a member ) said " yeah..and when you learn more about the priesthood you'll understand."...! We haven't even taught him really any of that! This week we are focusing on the commandments to prepare him for his baptism... but I'm getting ahead of myself.. We had a meeting at a members house with him and his son last night. It was amazing!..

During the visit we sat down and he said he wanted to be baptized on October 13th and wanted to know what he needed to to do prepare for that date. No one ever says that to us! Hardly ever. So we went over some of the baptismal interview questions. Also we are making a chart of everything we need to teach him, when and what scriptures he needs to read... His son asked some really good questions..such as How the prophet is called..he was a little confused on how we were able to still gain personal revelation if the prophet gained revelation for us..but he answered the question himself.. This boy is 15! Who has these questions when they are 15 besides the boy Joseph..not many. One thing i love that the member said to them last night when we were at there house was basically.. they do not realize it now..but they are going to be such an asset to the ward here and to the church. His son said he wanted to serve a full time mission like us too!...How great is our calling?

I feel so privileged to be able to teach them and serve them. Earlier in the week Cody asked us if he was taken us away from the ministry..we both looked at him and told him "no..you are our ministry!".. Invite all others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel has taken on a new meaning this week.

 

Long story.. I hope that it makes sense.. I am just so excited and happy for both of them. We are meeting with them Wednesday before our book of mormon study class..His son has another youth group he is going to but wants to skip it so he doesn't miss the meeting. Also he is praying to know which date he wants to be baptized on. :)

 

.. Next story is about that family that I told you about last week..who was a referral from that sweet little old lady who tells everyone about us?..well She wasn't home when we went to meet with her..So we called and rescheduled.. She has been talking with her "spiritual adviser"..Who told her that we did not believe that Jesus Christ was our savior and we only believed he was a prophet... Sister Johnson told her.. No..that would be a lie... and secretly we wanted to tell her.."we hope you're not paying your spiritual adviser..".. But we tried to reschedule and she told us that she had been talking with a her baptist preacher neighbor..who told her was the one that told her these things.. And started to tell us she didn't want to meet with us anymore when I got an impression to ask her if she was going to be home today so that we could talk with her in person..She told us it was her birthday and I said.."we want to bring you a cupcake!!"..so that we did..She let us come over..we talked..She now knows we believe that Jesus is our Savior..he lived, died for us..and lives this very moment!..Because we took the time to sit with her and listen to her concerns she wants to keep meeting with us. She told us that every time we come over she feels such a calming spirit and she doesn't just let people right into her home and pray with them. We have a return appointment to explain/discuss the restoration with her in more detail his week. I will return and report.

 

What else happened this week... We had dinner with these awesome members and they made really yummy homemade rolls! so I took a picture with one.. They make the best bread ever..:) SO i just had to eat a few. lol

..hmm.. I know! We had a meeting with bishop! Things are looking up in the ward. He has been bishop about 3 years..and it makes me sick knowing that not one set of missionaries have ever sat down and set expectations..or told him what our role was and what we could really do to help. Night and day. Things are looking very bright for our future here in the Brandon Ward. We have started doing service on Saturday mornings..showing up and different members houses and seeing what we can do for them. First stop Saturday was the bishops house..all three sets of us missionaries asking him who in the ward he knows that we can go see. I think he really appreciated the effort.

 

Last thing..we were able to help sister McDonough clean the mission home for service this week. ( lots of service..but not too much.) It was great. I love her so much..She is very sweet and it is great to be able to learn from her.

 

Well.. That is about it for me.. Ive officially blown up ya'lls inbox with this ginormous email.. I hope you enjoyed the story.. Also I hate to ask..but if you could please keep The dad and his son in your prayers I would really appreciate it. They need all the prayers they can get!

 

I love yall so much! I hope yall have a great great week!

Have a blessed day!

love, Sister Urie.

 

Southernism:Sooo.. maybe we were driving down the road and saw this car..maybe we stopped and took some pictures..maybe we loaned to copies of the book of mormon and made two new investigators..no big deal..ha!

 

Also this week I heard this conversation.."How are you doing?".." Oh Fair to middlin"

Scripture: Acts 5:41 They counted themselves blessed that they were willing to suffer shame for his name. I love this scripture. Do we ourselves in the same light? Why do I sacrifice and serve? Because I love the Lord too much not too.

 

Tracting Tips: zero... The weather has been so nice though.

Week 69 Pictures

 Sister Urie

 Sisters Conference

 A Painting that was given to the sisters by a neighbor

Week 69: Hey..I just met you.. and this is crazy..Here's our number..come to church maybe?‏

Family!

 

How have yall been doing? It was yet again another great week in Flowood, MS. I know I say this every week... but I am in awe of how much the Lord really does love us. How do I know he loves us? ..because of experiences we have daily of being lead to those who he has prepared to receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Father in Heaven knows and is mindful of all of us.

My first story to tell you that illustrates this so well happened yesterday! A few weeks ago we left the Savior's peace and blessing with this sweet little old lady. We go and visit her now at least once a week. Though she is fighting many health problems she always invites us in to visit and loves to give us the names of her friends to go visit. She will say something like this when introducing us to people.." These two ladies are so great..Now they are not Jehovah Witnesses and they're not selling anything. They just want to come and pray with you and talk about Jesus." So sweet.

Yesterday when we were visiting with her she gave us the referral of her son and her daughter in-law. During our visit she called up her daughter-in-law on the phone and told her she wanted to send two ladies over to come pray with them. The daughter in law said "yeah sure send um on over!" ..and that she did. We went over to her house and this sweet woman welcomed us right in. She only had 15 minutes so we set up a return appointment for today and left her with somethings to read before we are to come back. During our few minutes with her we learned that she converted to Methodist from Baptist when she was 20years old. Also during the early years of her raising her children she wanted to look into the Latter-day saint religion, but her sister told her some weird things about us that made her just give up on wanting to learn more. We told her that understanding would come over time and that it was up to her to put forth the effort now to read and pray to find out, for herself, the truthfulness of these things. Her daughter is age 13 and also really wants to know if these things are true. A very prayerful, spiritual youth.

We are so excited to meet with her.. actually we were going to meet with her today..but she just called to reschedule so I will update yall on how the lesson goes! The best part of the whole lesson is as we were leaving we asked her who she knew that we could go visit. She started to tell us some people..then said " Let me tell ya something..here in Mississippi if you go to peoples doors they either think yall are selling something or beggin for money..so how about I do this..I will tell them to come over and you can talk with all of us here then get the exchange information from there. Then yall don't have to go to the door where they would probably turn yall away even though yall are so nice." .. ha! it was awesome. So when we go to our appointment they are going to invite their friends over..oh if only we as members could be this excited about learning and sharing the gospel with our friends.

I'll return and report about this one for sure!

 

We were able to go on exchanges with the Clinton Sisters this week... One silly experience happened. We got a referral from a family in there, that we are teaching to to see their across the street neighbor..So that we did! went to go see her and as we pulled up so did she..As we were walking to her house I said " Hi mam'! How are you doing?" She mustered a Hello back and then with her cane in hand walked in to her back door and closed the garage door. I turned to the sister I was with and said "I have never seen a little old lady with a cane walk so fast before in my LIFE!"..it was way too funny. SO..being the bold missionary that I am we knocked on her door. Figured someone needed to help her out and take her newspapers to her..so we picked them up and knocked on the door. once for God..once for Christ and once for the Holy Ghost.. ha..i love it when you knock and know they're home and they don't come..but oh well! Had to try..

 

That same night we had a lesson scheduled with our investigator who is progressing (remember the one that didn't think we celebrated birthdays?..we'll call him Cody) So Cody is loving learning more about the church..since the beginning of our meeting with him he said that he wanted to know more about these things and make sure they were good before he brought his son to learn more ( understandable)  Tuesday night we get to our appointment with Cody..and who should be there also with bible and study journal in hand, his son! We were so very excited. The lesson went amazing. Cody basically taught his son the message of the restoration. Everything from Apostasy to the story about Joseph Smith. It was one of the best lessons Ive had on my mission..had to restrain myself from dancing around the room. His son said he would be baptized when he came to know these things were true.

Cody came to church Sunday..but his son was out of town. We hope they both are able to make it this Sunday as they said they would come. It was weird again..this last Sunday we had only one hour of church again because some of the men went to go help with the clean up down on the coast again. I'll tell you what..that's one of the weirdest feelings leaving after only one hour of church.

Sunday was really busy..but a good busy..we had so many set appointments and were able to meet with so many wonderful members of the ward..active and less active.

 

The weather here has been cooling off quite a bit. I know God loves us because he blesses us with rain. It rained a little yesterday and last night. What a blessing.

 

We made dinner for the elders a couple times this transfer..so they made us breakfast and dinner the other night. It was too nice of them. This last transfer has been great and we all really got a long well and worked together well. It is sad to see some of them get transferred. I have included a picture of our district.

 

Last but not least I need to tell you about sisters Conference!

This past week all the sisters from across the mission were able to gather together at the mission home for our first annual sisters conference! It was so great. We got there Wednesday evening had dinner and watched 'The prince of Egypt'.. then signed journals for each other. In the morning after breakfast we had council from President McDonough, Sister McDonough and the Assistants. President was excited that we could come in and learn more about his wife and see her great example. Sister McDonough is a great woman and it was great to be around her. We also learned of some examples of women in the Bible, Ruth and Esther. Such courage's examples of faith, devotion, dedication, loyalty and Living what you believe. The spirit was so strong during these meetings.. I don't know how to explain it to you other then we all felt so uplifted and edified that we did not want to leave. ( would you believe that I played the piano for it..? lol) .. Sister Johnson and I both commented to each other about how strong the spirit was and how you could really tell a difference. Any questions about the sisters conference? I think i bout covered it all. It was so great to see all my sister friends and catch up with them. I know that is the last time i will get to see most of them for a long while.

 

Ooh..So that creepy picture.. Our upstairs neighbor asked us if we knew who it belonged too..of course we didn't. A few days later one of our neighbors who was moving asked if we had gotten the picture that he had left for us..bahaha..yep it was for us. So we've hung it in our apartment. Were going to tape a picture of our selves in the corner. Love and live.

 

Well that's pretty much the bulk of the stories from this week. Things are going great. I am happy, healthy and enjoying the work. I wouldst ask for a better companion or area. The Lord knows us and loves us and puts us where he knows that we will grow. I pray that my growth continues as my times gets shorter.
The Gospel has been restored to the earth and We do have a living prophet on the earth today. The book of mormon is evidence of this truth. I know it is the word of God.

I hope yall have a great week!

Love ya!

Sister Urie

 

Southernism: "I was so shy I wouldn't say boo to a ghost!" -saying we heard the other day.

Scripture: Jarom 1:11 ..if the people were taught to live as if the savior had already lived. Shouldn't we be living as if he had already come again?.. not waiting to the end to repent but repenting daily.

Tracting Tips:..nothin!

Week 68 pictures

pearl elders..Brandon elders and us the Flowood sisters.. that's the district!

Zone Conference

Week 68: God really does answer Prayers.‏

Dear Family,

 

It was another great, great week in Flowood, MS. I love being a missionary and love it when we are able to see the Lords hand in our work... I tell you this because I have an amazing story to tell you about what took place just this morning on our way to email!...

SO! We went to the car wash before emailing ( it always happens that if you don't get it done first its hard to fit it in..) Upon going there the guys that work there made us stop and take off our bike rack ( its a trailer hitch) That was attached to our car. The guys that helped us take it off.. We got to talking with one and he said that his wife, at her work place, had been talking with a lady who was a member of our church..They are both very interested in learning more. well what happens next? You guessed it! We loaned him a copy of the Book of Mormon! Now here is the best part! The pearl elders ( keep them in your prayers) have really be struggling with finding people to teach..There are only two active members in their area and its been really hard for them..Guess where this new family lives?..PEARL! So we were able to give them the referral. God Loves us and answers prayers..but! that's not all..On our way leaving the car wash the manager comes over to talk to us ( Two things run through my head.. 1st "oh great I'm in trouble again"..2nd.. " This is probably because we loaned that guy a copy of the book of mormon..") You really wont believe what he says next... " Are you a member"...ha! YES! He is a member of the church, just moved her from Meridian. Come to find out he was at church yesterday and he owns/ manages that car wash and one in Meridian. Oh and even better...He lives in our area! Thank you Jesus! It was a great morning lets just say..We left there singing "at the car wash..at the Car wash! yeah!."..only after we said a prayer of thanks for being able to find so many wonderful people..for just that morning before leaving our apartment we prayed that we would be able to find someone to teach..and that people would be put in our path that were prepared to receive the restored gospel. There is a God and He loves us. 

 

So.. I need to tell ya all the other amazing things that are happening in Flowood. This last week we were able to see, find and teach so many amazing people. 

First person I want to tell yall about is The guy that didn't think we believed in birthdays..? remember him?.. Well we saw him this week and It was so great that we followed up with him because we would have never found this out. No, it wasn't a concern actually.. We had asked him to read a certain general conference talk the time before when we saw him. ( He has the Gospel library app. on his phone and is always reading it and telling us what he learned) So when we saw him we asked him what he thought of the talk.. To this he told us he felt bad because he wasn't sure if he had read it..long story short he couldn't remember which talk we had given him to read ( misplaced the sticky note we had written it on or something) So instead he listened to almost every talk in that general conference. This investigator is elect. He makes me want to study so much harder and be so much better! We are going to meet with him Tuesday of this week..Ill let ya know how it goes!

 

Next I'll tell yall about a family were teaching. Now this family is an answer to prayer for sure. We met them a week ago ( referral from the elders) She ( the wife) Said that she would come to the woman's conference we were having this weekend. Unfortunately or fortunately the woman's conference was cancelled because the men went to the coast this weekend to help clean up..So we got to meet with her and her husband together instead! A little background on them.. They both were raised very devout in their faiths, she grew up in many different churches. He is a history teacher and loves learning facts and history, while she loves learning also. Both of them are teachers. So when we met with them they both really wanted to know the why of different churches. So we helped them understand the why of the book of mormon and the why of our church. They loved it! Just as it says in Doctrine and covenants 50: 21-22 " Therefore, Why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together."

Just one part of the lesson for example went something like this after we read Moroni 10:3-5 we asked the dad "What did you think of what Moroni was exhorting us to do?" He replied something to the effect of "I really like these verses..He was writing them as if he knew people would persecute his word and he wanted them to find out for themselves if it was true or not."... wow! ..one other thing that happened during the lesson was right after we taught the first vision..(Side note: you can really discern their interest after you share Joseph Smiths experience/ vision) After Sharing with them the first vision she said that she believe that this could have happened definitely... Just amazing because that morning we prayed we would find a family and we were able to meet with them that very day.

 

Next story... One morning during our run we decided to run around the tennis court instead of going down the street we normally run down..and it was such a blessing we did because we met Eugene! Eugene was waiting for work to start so he was sitting in his car in front of the tennis courts smoking his cigarette.. We walked by and said..hey hope your mornings going well..you looking to quite smoking? ha! well it worked.. were going to teach him the stop smoking workshop soon. crazy what happens when you talk to everyone!

 

So I don't know if I told you last week..but because we have been blessing so many people (Saviors peace and blessing) we have been getting a lot of referrals. We contacted one yesterday..it was for a part member family. They were awesome and said that we could come back and leave the blessing in their home too! Great things are happening in Flowood,MS..

Oh! In case you were wondering...Training is going great. I love serving with Sister Johnson. She is a great missionary and we are really seeing many blessing and getting to have a lot of fun experiences together. ..by the way..we haven't forgotten to send our her birth announcement..that's on the list to do today.

 

ooh..and guess what! The weather has been amazing the past two days.. cool 70's 80's weather..like an Idaho summer no joke!..from 107 for a heat index to this.. I know god answers prayers!

 

Well that's it for the week for me..next week I'll be able to tell you about the exchanges we went on with the Clinton Sisters and The sisters Conference.

Hope that yall have a great week! I know that Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw and that the book of mormon is evidence of that. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and will help us have peace as we apply it to our lives. The Church of Jesus Christ is the Lords church restored again to the earth. I know it because the spirit has born witness to me. Yall should pray to know again that these things are true. Can't hurt to have another witness this week..let me know how it goes!

Love yall,

Sister Urie.

 

p.s: Please write me letters. please.

 

Scripture: Words of Mormon 1:7-8

Southernism: We were talkin with someone and they said " Gof..' meaning Golf.. Also  "yousta Could" meaning.. "I was once able to..."

Tracting Tips:..not much..the water washed it all away.. maybe 5 cents this last week?

Week 67 Pictures

 

Week 67: Hurricane?...what hurricane?‏

Dear Family!

 

It was another great week in Flowood, MS. and I am please to report that we did not get blown away in the hurricane. To be honest it was a let down. We did have a little bit of rain..and it cooled off quite a bit but nothing like i thought it would be.  

 

This week was really neat because we were able to see sister Mokalake and have dinner with her before she left. It was so great to see her. She is such a great missionary. THEN. we were able to go on exchanges with the new temple square sister and sister Chai who is serving in Slidell Currently. They were down from the hurricane from what we hear it hit Slidell pretty good..but just lots of rain?..we have a sisters conference coming up in a few weeks! all the sisters are going to get together in the mission home.

 

So this week one lesson that I really learned was that you cannot sit around and wait for good things to happen. You need to get up and do it yourself! I think of Walt Disney..yes I do..and all the great things he did..or all of the wonderful prophets we read about in the scriptures..they put their ideas into action and in turn got blessed them with more ideas and means. Makes me want to be better and try even harder.

 

oh yeah..Vicksburg! We went to Vicksburg today with the sweetest couple from the Clinton ward. It was so much fun. Great to see some history and learn more about the area too.

 

On the Investigator front..or people we are teaching, no one is really progressing and no one came to church this week.. except our one friend who is less active! We have been working with quite a few less active people and slowly they are all progressing towards coming back to church. faith unto repentance!  

I think my favorite part about this last week would have to be Friday..Everything we did..everywhere we went was divinely inspired I know it! it is amazing how when you pray to see the lords hand in your life how he really can work miracles through you and help you to see that he really is the one in charge.

Know that I am praying for yall and that we are working hard everyday to find and teach those who are prepared the Great message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. that all can be saved from sin through the atoning blood of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

Hope yall have a great great week! 

Peace and Blessings..love, Sister Urie :)

 

Scripture: Mormon 9:14 Forget not to be happy NOW.

Southernism: This week my southernism is all the pictures from the Vicksburg civil war park. It was awesome. The battle of Vicksburg...I found some family names in one of the places too.. Urie is URE..but it still works! lol

Tracting Tips..none..all washed away. ha